A. It was the
home (and studio) of Lila Tournay, an eccentric, obsessive, manipulative
British artist who wormed her way into Dexter's life and turned it upside
down.

Since
Lila was Season Two's main villain (or "villainess"), we saw
a lot of her apartment during the course of the season.

Most of the
time we just saw the interior of her apartment, which had a striking resemblance
to Rudy's loft-apartment from season one,
and may well have been the same set inside Sunset-Gower studio,

But we were
also given several good glimpses of the exterior as well, including
in Episode 12, "The British Invasion", the dramatic finale
where Lila attempted to burn the building down with Dexter (and his kids)
trapped inside, and the apartment was seen, at night, surrounded by firemen
trying to put out the fire.

We
also saw the building earlier, in Episode 6, "Dex, Lies and Videotape"
(where Dexter dashes in out of the rain, and the two wind up having sex),
and again in Episode 11, "Left Turn Ahead" (where Dexter tells
Lila he's leaving town).

That's about
a block west of Gower Street, and just two blocks east of Vine Street.
(You can see the famous Capitol Records
tower in the background.) That's right next to (south of) the Gower offramp
of the Hollywood (101) Freeway.

The "front"
of the apartment house, which we see on "Dexter", doesn't face
the main street (Yucca). Instead, the long side of the building faces
that street, while the "front" is semi-hidden behind a gate,
facing a small, private parking lot at the east end of the building, near
Vista Del Mar street.

In other words,
to see the angle we see on the show, you'll need to be looking west,
while standing at the east end of the building.

A
related scene, in Episode 11, that supposedly shows Lila running from
her apartment out to her car, was actually shot a mile to the south, near
the Sunset-Gower studio.

The apartment
house is less than a mile from the studio and several other Dexter locations,
including: "The Swamp"
bar (exterior), and from the third season: the tailor
shop, the accident scene, the hooker motel, Wendell's house, the kids'
school, and Ramon Prado's house.

Q.
How the heck did you figure out where it was?

A. This one
had me stumped for over a year, and I'd probably still be hunting for it
if I hadn't finally received a tip from a fan, Chas Demster.
(Thanks, Chas!)

Early on, I
didn't realize that they were filming in Hollywood, so I concentrated my
search in the Long Beach, San Pedro and Marina Del Rey areas (the places
where they filmed most often in the past), which, of course, got me nowhere.

But even after
I found out later that they were shooting in Hollywood, I was still unable
to spot it.

Why? Because
although the apartment house is actually just two long buildings, the screencaps
from the show make it appear to be a cluster of four buildings (an
illusion created by unusual corners on the inner half the buildings). So
that is what I looked for when I searched via aerial photos.

Also, as mentioned
above, the "front" seen on the show doesn't face the road, as
one might expect. Instead, the side of the long building faces the
street, while the "front" is hidden away on the east side, partially
concealed by a gated parking lot. So it's easy to miss on Google StreetView
as well.